Saturday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Matthew 25:14-30
Faith that dares: Using God’s Gifts Without Fear

In the Parable of the Talents (Mt 25:14-30), Jesus offers both a challenge and a warning. The focus falls sharply on the “useless servant,” the one who buried his talent. This servant represents the Scribes and Pharisees, whose rigid desire to “keep things exactly as they were” paralysed the living truth of God. Their closed minds refused growth, change, or the Spirit’s new movements.

God does not give us gifts to be locked away. He entrusts each person with talents—whether many or few—expecting us to use them for His glory. The value of our gift is not measured by size, but by faithfulness. A small gift courageously used is far greater in God’s eyes than a great gift wasted in fear.

William Barclay points out three important truths: First, God’s gifts differ, but the call is the same—to offer our best effort. Second, the reward for faithful work is not rest, but more responsibility in God’s service. The two industrious servants were invited into deeper partnership with the Master. Third, the true failure is not in trying and failing, but in refusing to try at all. Fear led the one-talent servant to do nothing, and that was his downfall.

Finally, the parable gives us a spiritual law: the more we use a gift, the stronger it becomes; if neglected, it fades away. Whether it’s prayer, generosity, teaching, or service, the only way to keep it alive is to give it away.

The Gospel calls us to a daring faith—one that risks, invests, and multiplies what God has entrusted to us. To bury our gifts is to withhold them from God’s Kingdom. True discipleship means stepping out in trust, so that when the Master returns, we may hear: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

© Claretian Publications, Hong Kong, China
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica 2025